Horizon 2020, the largest European research and innovation fund to date, was launched three years ago in the Dublin Convention Centre. I was hard pushed to find a seat in the impressive 2000-capacity auditorium as I had arrived late. It occurred to me when I sat down, though, that I should have arrived later. A …

Have you seen a PowerPoint slide anything like this recently? Or this? I’ll bet you have. In fact, I’d be surprised if most of the presentation slides you’ve seen aren’t like this: intricate, text-heavy and inelegant. Of course, the above slides have been taken out of context and I’m sure many of you would say, …

Most people’s response to an afternoon of presentations will be: ‘Do I have to stay for all of them?’ Presentations are often dull and ineffective but they don’t have to be. A presentation and a conversation are essentially the same thing and if you arrange your content properly, you can present as easily as if …